Interpersonal Communication In Nursing

I met with D.B. on Tuesday, October 27, 2015. We met at her home and reviewed her care plan and discussed a recent doctor’s appointment she had with her doctor. At this appointment she discussed her chronic leg pain and received a diagnosis. We also reminiscence her life from the years 20 through 40. This reminiscence is submitted as a separate document with this summary and evaluation. At this meeting, we renewed our relationship and each told the other what is new in our personal lives. Shortly after my arrival, the niece of D.B. stopped by and stayed about 10 minutes. She mostly just sat on the couch nearby and listened. D.B. has talked about her niece in the past and I think she stopped by just to see who this is that is visiting

to get. It had been over a year since D.B had seen a doctor, and her leg pain did warrant an evaluation by a doctor. D.B. informed me that the doctor told her she has spinal stenosis. D.B. explained to me her understanding of spinal stenosis. She explained that it is a pinching of her leg nerves in her lower back as they run through her spine. She advised she discussed options with her doctor for relieving this pain and treatment. She made it clear that she would not have an operation or other procedure on her back as she believes this would only make things worse. She stated that she doesn’t see much she can do for her pain other than what she has been doing in the past. The things she has done in the past are using aspirin and walking to keep in shape. She explained that her doctor agrees with her

told me about a new heated blanket she had bought. She explained that this blanket covers her bed ad she turns it on about 20 minutes before bedtime. When she gets into bed, it is not only comfortable, she feels it takes some of the cramps / pain from her legs as they are warmer now. I feel I chose an appropriate care plan for D.B. I was successful in getting D.B. in to a doctor for a successful diagnosis of her leg pain. While there was no offer by this diagnosis for pain relief, I do feel that knowing the reason at least gives some relief as I feel there is more stress involved in unexplained pain versus pain that is from a known cause. She now can feel empowered to know that she has made choices in how to deal with the pain she is experiencing. Another aspect of the care plan was exercise. Increasing exercise can have beneficial effect for her leg pain. While this benefit may not be immediate and hard to correlate to the exercise, I believe D.B. understands how many benefits she may realize from increasing her level of activity. D.B. is a former physical education instructor and knows about these many